


Aiden and the Doctor

by Taarya



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Eleventh Doctor Era, Gen, One Shot, no romance either, short story with no reason to exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-25
Updated: 2014-06-25
Packaged: 2018-02-06 04:23:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1844269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taarya/pseuds/Taarya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"The truth is, you could write all the secrets of the universe on a piece of paper and give it to every person in the world and most of them would laugh. It doesn’t matter what the answers are, the only thing that is relevant is what every individual person says is relevant. That’s the catch. So don’t look for ‘the’ answers, pick your own." Ashley Wylde</p><p>What if the dreamworks logo was related to the doctor?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aiden and the Doctor

"What are you doing?"  
The Doctor turned to see a little boy looking down at him. He was standing under a tree, clearly unacquainted with the scorching sun. He probably was no more than 7 years old, but he looked so much younger than his age and the thick glasses he was wearing seemed too big for his tiny face.  
"You tell me. What am I doing?" he answered with a smile.  
"You’re looking at the sky" the child answered shyly. "Isn’t the sun burning your eyes?"  
"Eh," the Doctor shrugged. "I’m used to that. And I’m being careful"  
"Mum says no one should sit on the edge of a cliff or they’ll fall" the youngster noticed after a pause.  
"Your mummy is right" he conceded, standing up and taking a few steps back and towards the boy. "What’s your name?"  
"Alden" he almost whispered.  
"That’s a really nice name, Alden. Do you know its meaning?"  
Alden shook his head and looked down. He was so pale that the Doctor could almost see the veins underneath the skin.  
"It means ‘old friend’, and I like it. I like friends."  
"Do you have friends?"  
The Doctor stood still and a hail of faces rushed into his head in rapid succession. “I used to, yes. I still have some”  
Alden sat down and looked at him quietly for a minute. “What’s your name?” he asked eventually.  
"I’m the Doctor," he answered politely. The boy instinctively pulled back at the sound of the word. "Alden? What’s wrong?"  
"Doctor, like a dentist?"  
The man smiled. “No. I don’t hurt little children” _or at least, I try not to._  
Alden beamed back and looked calmer. “Can I tell you something?” the Doctor nodded and sat next to him, waiting for Alden to gather up the courage to talk. “Is it weird that sometimes I know when things are scary?”  
"No," the man answered after a moment. "Everyone does."  
"But that’s the point! When I see them, no one else does. Remember the small black cubes that were all around, last year?" the Doctor nodded again. "Those were scary. And no one listened to me. But then, people died. My granny died." he specified with a sad frown.  
The Doctor looked down at him and paused.  
 _He knew. He knew before everyone else. He knew while I thought they were safe._  
"Did it happen again?"  
"It’s happening right now" Alden admitted quietly, and pointed up. "You see the universe? Up there?"  
The Doctor looked up. The sun wasn’t up in the sky anymore, there were no clouds and the moon was waning. A couple of seagulls swooped down on their unaware preys and, so many light years beyond them, unknown adventures, enemies, friends, sacrifices, wonders and empires, all waiting for him.  
"What do you see, Doctor?"  
"Well, there’s the sun, the moon and no clouds at all. What do you see?"  
"I hear something…it’s not a voice. It’s just thoughts that aren’t mine. And it told me that the universe holds the answer to every question I’ll ever have, every secret everyone has. And I started thinking about it. And I thought, if I go up there, on the moon, maybe I could catch them. But my arms are short, you see?" he held them up in order for the Doctor to see them better. "So I could catch them with a fishing pole. Do you think that would work?"  
"What answer would you find in there?"  
"Everything. I want to know things. I want to know why my belly aches when I run. I want to know why my mouth lets out glitter when I want it to. I want to know what my parents are giving me for Christmas."  
The Doctor’s eyes went wide open. “What does your mouth do?”  
Alden shrugged matter-of-factly. “I just have to do this” he explained. He started hyperventilating, and after a couple of seconds his breath became glowing and yes, it really was sparkling. But what Alden hadn’t noticed was that his eyes were glowing too, just like his ears and nostrils. Alden had a reserve of regeneration energy.  
It wasn’t golden, but it was silver-y and translucent. And he could use it whenever he wanted for no apparent reason.  
"But it makes me really tired," he added, "so I don’t do that often. And mum doesn’t like it. But it doesn’t matter. I want the secrets from the universe!"  
"Do you think you’ll like the answers that the universe will give you?"  
"Yes! Why wouldn’t I?"  
The Doctor lingered for a moment. “The answers that the universe will give you don’t matter. What if they were bad, or hurtful? The only thing that is relevant is what every single person thinks. That’s the catch, Alden, and you’re so much smarter than that. So don’t look for the answers up there, pick your own.”  
"But I feel that what I want is up there!" he argued. "I know it!"  
"But why are you hurrying? There’s time to do everything, there’s a long life ahead of you."  
"It’s not true, Doctor, and you know it."  
The Doctor looked baffled. “I don’t. Why would you say that?”  
"I know it. I hear mum cry every night and say my name, and then the voice inside of me tells me that I’m not gonna be here anymore, I’ll be where I want to be."  
"Don’t you want to be here?"  
"I want to be there", Alden said, pointing towards the moon, pale against the still blue sky. "And when I’m there, I’ll catch the secrets of the universe"  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yes" he nodded. It was the first time since the beginning of their conversation that he saw Alden so enthusiastic and confident about what he said.  
"Well then, I wish you good luck. And here’s a gift, you might use it when you’re up there"  
The Doctor grabbed something from the inside pocket of his blazer. Alden’s eyes glowed, quite literally, seeing a rolled fishing line, transparent and shiny, being handed to him.  
"Can I have it?"  
"Sure" he smiled. "And you know what? Maybe you’re right. Maybe you will find your answer, up there. But pick a good one, eh?"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> I suggest you all go read Ashley Wylde poems, since this short story is based on a quote from her works: ashleywyldepoetry.tumblr.com


End file.
